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You heard it here first: "Anybody who likes going to trade shows is a very sick person because these are hard work if you do them right," says Steve Miller, author of How to Get the Most Out of Trade Shows (McGraw-Hill, 2000) and a consultant based in Federal Way, Wash.

After all, preparing for and attending the show are only two-thirds of the battle. After soaking in the new products, concepts and camaraderie, pool and spa professionals must put that information to work while resuming the normal business they abandoned temporarily to attend the show.

Creating an action plan to guide and focus your time on the show floor isn't enough. To get your full money's worth, you need an equally sound follow-up strategy:

* Take charge of the process.

It's tempting for attendees to toss their trade show materials in a corner, put their feet up on their desks and expect vendors to ring their phones off the hook. After all, good salesmanship demands that sellers make the first move to demonstrate their commitment to customer service. Right?

However, this path of least resistance leads to missed deals, says Cynthia Lett, director/CEO of The Lett Group, a consulting firm based in Silver Spring, Md. "They probably made more contacts than you did and have a heavier workload to follow up on," she explains. "It isn't that they don't want to do business with you. They may not realize how imminent your need is."

As a compromise, mention to vendors you meet at the Expo that you'd like to hear from them by a specific date and flag it on a pocket calendar; pick up the phone yourself the day after if they fail to respond.

* Devote time to follow up.

A good place to start? When arranging your schedule to attend the Expo, extend the length of time you plan to be away by one day--then spend that day back in the office without interruptions. Devote the first eight to 10 hours to nothing but follow-up. Be strict: Refuse to accept phone calls and ignore unnecessary meetings or other distractions. Even hesitating 24 hours means your experiences will be harder to recreate when you finally do grab a chair. "It's like learning algebra or geometry," says Al Rizzo, owner of Rizzo Pool Co. in Newington, Conn. "The teacher taught a problem in class, and you went home that night and sat at the kitchen table until you got it."

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THE GOOD NEWS IS, YOUR HOME-BASED BUSINESS IS GROWING. The bad news is--your home isn't. It's a common dilemma, but not an insoluble one. All it takes is creative thinking.

"Too often, people sit there in their muddled mess of a home office and wonder why they're not happy," says Bruce Wentworth, vice president of Wentworth-Levine Architect-Builder Inc. (www.wentworthlevine.com), a Silver Springs, Md.-based architect and general contractor that specializes in residential remodeling. "They'd be surprised at some of the solutions they can come up with," he adds.

Perhaps the most obvious solution is to find ways to do more with your home's existing space. You can convert a spare bedroom into an office or find niches that can be used to store space-eaters like files or supplies. But while remodeling is a good possibility, it's not the only one. You can outsource space-hungry tasks or turn to technology--a vast array of options stand ready to help you make the most out of the space you have.

Technology is probably the answer that presents the most flexibility. John Girard, vice president and research director with Gartner Group, a Stamford, Conn.-based research firm, cites the growing wealth of Web-based application service providers (ASPs--see related story), which offer free or fee-based services like accounting, collaboration, and calendar tools.

Home-based business owners can conduct research using Hoovers , a business network site, examine clients or companies with Stockmaster (www.stockmaster.com), or have topical information pushed to their PC or wireless device with products like Alerts.com. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. "You can troll the Internet or the phone book for services that are freebies or value-adds to make yourself more efficient and come off as bigger than you really are," Girard says.

Another way to save space--and time--is to outsource repetitive tasks you might delegate to inside staff. Kerry Gleeson, president of the Institute for Business Technology (www.ibt-pep.com), a Boca Raton, Fla.-based organizational and effectiveness training firm, and author of The High-Tech Personal Efficiency Program ($17; Wiley & Sons), notes that it isn't easy to let go of some of those tasks. "Many people are perfectionists. They've been used to doing these things themselves," Gleeson says. "That's one set of skills, and another is getting other people to do things for you."

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Not many years ago, getting proper coverage on a homebased business was challenging and expensive. But insurance companies have now responded to homebased businesses' needs with a variety of flexible products to provide appropriate, affordable coverage. You have three basic options for insurance, says Loretta L. Worters, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute.

First, you can buy an endorsement to your existing homeowners policy. Standard homeowners policies provide minimal coverage (usually about $2,500) for business equipment and include no other business coverage. An endorsement increases your business property coverage, and the cost is nominal.

Second is an in-home business policy, which provides greater comprehensive coverage for business equipment as well as liability. Worters says some in-home business policies also cover such things as important papers and records, business interruptions and the cost of operating out of temporary locations.

Third is a business owners policy (BOP), a policy de signed for small to midsize companies. Worters recommends a BOP if you operate in multiple locations or often work at your customers' sites.

Besides property and liability, be sure vehicles and employees are adequately insured. And keep up on what's new from your agent.

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